Professor Asparagushttp://professorasparagus.ca
Windy Mountain Road FarmFri, 15 Sep 2017 21:44:51 +0000en-CAhourly1http://professorasparagus.ca/unknown/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/cropped-Wilma-the-amateur-archer-SCA-2016-sm-32x32.jpgProfessor Asparagushttp://professorasparagus.ca
3232Allin Mikuy Ayllu – La Comunidad del Buen Comer – Community of Good Eatinghttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/15/allin-mikuy-ayllu-la-comunidad-del-buen-comer-community-good-eating/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/15/allin-mikuy-ayllu-la-comunidad-del-buen-comer-community-good-eating/#respondFri, 15 Sep 2017 21:09:42 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=1035Well since we will be away for the next few weeks on vacation on our adventure trip to the Amazon rainforest, I thought I would give you folks 2 blog posts to tie you over until we get back. We … Continue reading →

]]>Well since we will be away for the next few weeks on vacation on our adventure trip to the Amazon rainforest, I thought I would give you folks 2 blog posts to tie you over until we get back.

We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to visit farms and with our time coming to a close in Peru, I wanted to take advantage of an opportunity to go back to a community outside of Lima, one we had visited shortly after our arrival – check out the blog post from March “Bioagricultura Casa Blanca. It seemed like this happened so long ago.

Allin Mikuy Ayllu is Quechu for the Community of Good Eating. We are a group of friends from different districts of Lima who want to eat healthy food, and in a solidarity gesture in defence of food sovereignty decided to organize as consumer and become engaged directly with agroecological producers.

So we met one Sunday morning where they had rented a large van. We as per usual didn’t leave until at least an hour later than planned but that is the latin way. We ended up having a van load of adults and children – I had planned on doing a post about the children here. Suffice it to say they are in good hands here, being raised perhaps the way we used to raise kids, very much endeared but also left to be kids, none of this bubble wrap generation.

Anyway it didn’t take long to get to our first stop since Sunday traffic is a breeze compared to the other days of the week.

First stop was a nursery not sure why. In any event, you could all sorts of plants. I have been intrigued by the eucalyptus trees we see often in the countryside. Of course not native and actually not very suitable as they need water and will find it by any means through their root systems – building beware.

Check out these eucaptus seedlings whose roots are in these tiny plastic shot size cups. The larger seedlings weren’t in anything much larger.

Next onto the farm visit, where we first encountered a variety of plants under cultivation although at different stages of growth since you can practically grow anything here year round as is done with corn. Here is some drying, some still growing

More camote or sweet potato:

A new fruit – nancite – tastes like a kiwi which I love, with a big pit so easy to pick out, nice yellow flesh and easily peeled, the size of medium size grapes:

Some fencing and greenhouses:

A yam plant

A pig farm we briefly visited alongside the organic farm – the former not being organic for sure but at least compared to agribusiness pork production this was teenie:

Tree canopy which is so needed in the hot dry climate – it wasn’t hot at this time since it is winter so more grey & dreary & actually sometimes chilly.

The farmer, Sr. Ortiz

Our last stop was checking out this abandoned old hacienda, on a very prominent rock hill which was easy to climb and you got the best views.

Beef cattle feedlots, fortunately so small compared to what I have seen in El Paso Texas where they span dozens of square miles:

A woman washing her laundry: (you can see her in the bottom of the pic 2 pics up)

A watering hole:

The view of one of the cerros – quite colourful actually with all the laundry in a sea of rock & sand:

The view from below:

and from within:

Views of the inner walls:

A watering hole?

All in all it was a good day. Very nice folks who were all supporters of the Community Supported Agriculture program. Alas they only receive a box (canaste) every 2 months. We were provided with a decent vegetarian meal – Mr.C5 was of course not happy but I was. Met some folks who actually spoke English so Mr. C5 was happy afterall.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/15/allin-mikuy-ayllu-la-comunidad-del-buen-comer-community-good-eating/feed/0Climate collapse – stop calling it climate changehttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/15/climate-collapse-stop-calling-climate-change/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/15/climate-collapse-stop-calling-climate-change/#respondFri, 15 Sep 2017 20:06:41 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=1007It still mystifies me that folks can question whether climate change is happening. But then there have been some interesting analyses from various fields – psychology, neuroscience & similar – which have clearly demonstrated how you just can’t have a … Continue reading →

]]>It still mystifies me that folks can question whether climate change is happening. But then there have been some interesting analyses from various fields – psychology, neuroscience & similar – which have clearly demonstrated how you just can’t have a debate let alone a discussion with folks who truly believe in something despite the evidence which proves them wrong or inaccurate in their perspective.

The human condition of having the ability to recognize self doesn’t help us when we have emotions that get in the way, and the ability to convince ourselves of something even if that something never happened. And of course our short-sighted nature doesn’t help either. Case in point for the latter when the white supremacists want to return to a time when all there were white folks – I don’t think so as this was never ever the case.

I remember learning about social movements during my Ph.D. studies, and re-acquainted myself with the subject matter when I was offered the opportunity to teach such a course. In the various typologies of social movements, i.e. categorizations of these, there was always the utopian type who pined for a time back when society was supposedly a certain way. Well that way never actually existed. It is like when we look back on the past and yearn for an easier way of life, you know the good ol’ days, or when we say ‘when we were young we didn’t behave that way – the way today’s young folk behave’. We humans can’t help but have those rose coloured glasses on to view our past. Of course this doesn’t apply to all. I am sure that those who suffer from PTSD for example, or from abuse do not share this view of a happier time in the past.

So sorry getting back to climate change or what I am now starting to call climate chaos or rather climate collapse. With the latter phrase it isn’t that planet earth is dying. It won’t but we humans may and I think we should. It would be good for the planet if we did die off but not before we figure out what to do with the nuclear power plants and waste since we have in effect created systems that need to be maintained to infinity at least until the half lives of all those atoms have decayed whichever comes first. (please feel free to correct me if I got the physics lingo wrong). I am referring to the fact that we also will have taken with us – I mean die – so many thousands or rather likely millions of species. I know most folks just don’t care for the smaller creatures like insects, toads & similar. For some it hits home with the larger animals, like rhinos or polar bears. My heart breaks for all of these living beings (I also include vegetation).

As you can imagine, I am one who always thinks of the animals in any natural disaster. I am happy that the news does seem to at some point provide some accounting for what is happening to the animals whether they be pets or wildlife, but as is to be expected they don’t get the same coverage as that of humans which I can’t condemn. I can condemn the heavy focus on the destruction of property – sheesh what is important people – life or buildings! I was glad to learn that since 2006 in the U.S., animals are to be considered in any response to natural disasters but that applies to pets with the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS), see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets_Evacuation_and_Transportation_Standards_Act. And now many shelters take in pets – thank you so much to these folks who are my heroe, and rescuers go into disaster zones to look for and rescue pets.

I know I know we do need shelter to survive. I get it. But I don’t give a shit about any resort properties or the monster mansions. We certainly are not entitled to any more than basic shelter. We are not even entitled to electricity and indoor plumbing. These are luxuries that billions in the world do not have as it is. I do thank on occasion the inventors of some household products – I am super thankful for the existence of washing machines. I have had to handwash over the years some clothing now and again, like when I am on vacation. But the thought of doing hand laundry on a weekly basis – ugh!! And of course you know it falls to the women to do this task. I remember watching a British TV show, “The 1900 House”, where they chose a family to live like it was in the early 1900s for 3 months (I just looked it up – I thought they had to live this way for 1 whole year). My god – the women and girls of the family had to wash these heavy duty bed sheets and other linen and of course clothing – what ridiculously hard work. Meanwhile the husband got to leave every day to go to this regular day job (I guess since he didn’t/couldn’t just take a leave from his regular 20th century job).

We are big fans of the British TV shows depicting farming/rural life in various eras, The Tudor Farm, the Victorian Farm, the Edwardian Farm, War Time Farm, starting with Tales from the Green Valley. I can’t recommend these enough if you are at interested in learning how to live more self-sufficiently, more simply. It is from these shows that Mr. C5 learned of the dead (and subsequently live) hedges that we now have at our farm (or rather did have). We were recently talking about the fact that those hedges would need tending as the material just decomposes so quickly after our time away although we do hope that our attempts to plant some willow will have taken root so the dead hedge will slowly but surely convert into a live hedge.

This past week with all the hurricanes, some earthquakes, forest fires, monsoon and torrential rains with concomitant flooding in various parts of the world, I couldn’t help but think … man the rapture folks who think the world is coming to an end with the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ being imminent, they must be creaming their jeans, drooling with glee at what is taking place. It unfortunately just fits in what they believe.

On another related matter, going off from my post re: racism, is the issue of a specific set of consequences of these disasters, at this time particularly in the hurricane impacted areas of the Caribbean. Now we are, finally I might add, hearing about the violence that is taking place in the streets – robberies, looting, murder, assault, rape… Well what did you expect when the colonial powers, the expats who live lives of luxury compared to the local folks, continue to control the economies of the island nations.

What I am referring to is the legacy of colonialism. What goes around comes around – payback’s a bitch isn’t it.

And now there will be the capitalists applying their shock doctrine strategy. We already have richard branson with his telecommunications & other empire who will gleefully rebuild telecommunication systems but do you think he will do it for free all the while paying a pittance to the workers doing the actual work (as compared to what he earns)? Of course not. And then we have robert deniro offering to rebuild Barbuda but that is because he ‘owns’ a resort there which was under construction (even though I read that by law all property is commonly owned in Barbuda so how do you own your own resort there? hmmm I guess you can always give some folks exceptions or … bribe em’).

Why couldn’t what used to be called the Tobin tax or more accurately the Robin Hood tax have been implemented decades ago when it was first introduced by the economist James Tobin? The tax would have been a pittance to those investors but would have raised billions of dollars for international development and aid.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/15/climate-collapse-stop-calling-climate-change/feed/0A day at an urban organic gardenhttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/09/day-urban-organic-garden/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/09/day-urban-organic-garden/#respondSat, 09 Sep 2017 21:23:03 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=1000Several weeks ago we attended an open house of a community organic garden in an outer suburb of Lima, Villa Maria del Triunfo. It is about a hectare and operated by a large group of neighbourhood families. The project began … Continue reading →

]]>Several weeks ago we attended an open house of a community organic garden in an outer suburb of Lima, Villa Maria del Triunfo. It is about a hectare and operated by a large group of neighbourhood families. The project began with funding from a United Nations grant and the support of the municipality. Another volunteer has been conducting an ethnographic survey of this place so I had wanted to visit for some time, and this open house presented a perfect opportunity.

The day involved tours of the garden, workshops on composting, planting, and there was a small market for the visitors. It certainly was amazing to step out of the above ground metro line station, looking around for the garden and seeing this huge green space in the middle of a high density poor desert neighbourhood. It was easy to spot the green!

I learned that the way the place is organized is that each family gets a small plot and they decide what to grow. If a family doesn’t use their plot they forfeit it and it gets used by someone else. The initial aim of the project was to grow food for the families, families who had come from the countryside but had to escape the violence during 1980-2000 and so came to Lima with nothing. Some of them do go to organic farmers markets to sell their produce.

I was surprised that there wasn’t a coordinated program where they collectively decide what to grow, instead it is an individual family’s decision. This place seemed to me to be the perfect opportunity for a cooperative. I was also surprised that from what I could see it seemed each family for the most part grew the same fruits and vegetables. Alas the available produce was limited at this time of year so I wasn’t able to get my weekly produce. I also learned that they didn’t really eat many vegetables prior to coming to Lima, only mainly corn & potatoes, which really surprised me. I always thought if folks eat mainly meat then this isn’t a sign of poverty, but not here it seems. (I have to say I am becoming quite disgusted by the quantity of meat consumed). Many were actually growing eggplant which isn’t a common veg for Peruvians at all (and not one of my favs either). They do grow lots of greens but mainly to make various sauces, not so much eating fresh.

The view from the road walking up from the metro station

Welcome

Info sign – no need for words!

Some of the plants under cultivation: bananas, various greens, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potato, beans, etc…

Sugar cane?

Cassava plants

Passion flower vines with fruit

Creepy scarecrows

Staircases – we are in what is called the ceros – desert mountains/hills, quite colourful in a sea of desert

Fencing: scrap anything wood or metal, stones/rocks, tires and bushes

Greenhouses

Me & Moises Quispe, executive director of the Asociacion Nacional de Productores Agroecologicos (National Association of Organic Producers), in one of the greenhouses before he facilitated a workshop.

Cacti seedlings – these are like the prickly cactus I am familiar with but of course they grow much larger. The fruit they bare is actually called ‘tuna’ here. It has beautiful pink flesh with lots of seeds so not my cuppa tea for just eating as is, and I have to say the juice tastes a bit odd so I prefer it mixed with other juices.

Bathtub seedlings

Electricity towers in the middle of the garden

The sports field

The neighbours

Overall it was very impressive. Little by little these families and this neighbourhood are improving their quality of life, a great model for other communities in the greater metropolitan area of Lima, especially considering this is situated in a desert. They will need all the help they can get with climate change.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/09/09/day-urban-organic-garden/feed/0Racismhttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/26/racism/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/26/racism/#commentsSat, 26 Aug 2017 17:57:09 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=962I have been meaning to write for a few weeks about this topic ever since the death of Heather Heyer. Alas I have once again found myself with health issues – I have experienced my 1st ever root canal – … Continue reading →

]]>I have been meaning to write for a few weeks about this topic ever since the death of Heather Heyer. Alas I have once again found myself with health issues – I have experienced my 1st ever root canal – yippee!! NOT. Talk about pain!! And then a 3rd cold where I was sick to the point that I paid a visit to emerg since I was having laboured breathing. I had bronchial spasms although the cause is not clear – do I now have asthma? I certainly hope not. I have only once in my life had bronchitis from my memory. I seem to have gotten this from a trip to Zimbabwe several years ago now. It wasn’t particularly dry & dusty conditions where I was for 3 weeks but enough I guess to irritate my lungs.

In any event, the topic of racism or should I say anti-racism is dear to my heart. As many Canadians of my generation and socio-economic status I grew up in an essentially completely white suburb. As I was in a program where ½ my classes were in French, the other ½ in English, my French teachers were mainly from Haiti, with one being from Belgium. I think you can guess who were the Black teachers and who was the white one.

This certainly didn’t make me ‘aware’ of race. Too young for that and of course too oblivious to being enveloped in the cloak of white privilege (unearned advantage based on race) although I don’t think it was called that back then. Of course there were race & ethnic divisions in Quebec that I became aware of in my teens and early adulthood– mainly towards the Indigenous Peoples, e.g. the Cree whose territory was being used to build the Hydro Quebec dams, and Jewish people.

I was fortunate to have had an opportunity to partake in a student exchange in my last year of high school where a group of us spent a few weeks in an Inuit community near Hudson’s Bay, Inukjuak, which lay far beyond the tree line. Needless to say it was a transformative experience. After that trip I remember meeting up and hanging out with some members of the community as they came to Mtl for medical treatment. I have to say I don’t recall any education about the genocide of First Nations. We learned more about their traditional way of life which was still practiced albeit using modern implements, e.g. hunting using skidoos aka snowmobiles and guns. I will never forget being amazed at how we would travel on the snow plains and would never get lost even though for me it was sea of white.

I don’t think my race education expanded much beyond this until I went to Australia after I graduated from uni and began my path of activism learning about environmental, peace and human rights issues. Learning about the genocide of the Australian Aborigines by the british colonizers was profound. Isn’t it always the case that when one travels one tends to learn a lot about other countries. Eventually one’s focus returns to one’s home country to finally learn about the shit that went down thanks to the European colonizers and subsequent settler peoples. In Oz I was introduced to John Pilger, http://johnpilger.com, one of my journalist and documentary film maker heroes. He is right up there with Noam Chomsky & Howard Zinn.

I used to be mystified at how Quebecers could be so racist, despite the fact that they feel shit upon by the English Canadians. A phenomena of humanity I will always find saddening and frustrating is that when we as a group feel wronged we in turn attack those who are not the actual cause of this discrimination like the powerful people/institutions (are we that stupid or too scared?) but instead attack a group that has even less power, you know the scapegoat phenomenon.

My race awakening pertaining to Black folks truly came when I went to Philly to be an intern at a community activist training organization, Training for Change (I highly recommend their trainings, https://www.trainingforchange.org/). I ended up living in a neighbourhood nestled between the upper middle class ivy league universities (of course mainly white) and the working class & poor neighbourhood (populated by Blacks mainly). I witnessed a few incidents and heard 1st hand accounts of violence in the neighbourhood in which I lived, acts committed by folks from the poorer neighbourhood. But I also remember so clearly that I told myself I would not then jump to the conclusion that Black folk, men in particular, were to be feared. As a sociologist I knew there were significant structural factors at play. I also have happy memories of this time, riding on the public transit system trains being usually the only white person and listening to the folks talk to each other rather loudly and often across other people, laughing and chiding each other in fun, or observing as many folks would be reading their bible. Of course I felt odd each time but I was simply getting a taste of what it was like as a person of colour to step outside of their home and to have to face every day the dangers of the white world.

In my internship I had the opportunity to partake in many trainings using different modalities of transformational learning to explore the topic of race and racism. Some of these workshops were multi-ethnic but others were for whites only. In the former case I will never forget that at one point in the workshop we were divided into our own racial groups and had a session to be with our ‘own people’. We could hear the other people of colour groups laughing. Our white group was in contrast incredibly somber – the white guilt just oozed out of people and made for unpleasant exchanges as people spoke out from this place with anger and sadness. I have to admit I felt out of sorts since at this time I just couldn’t relate to their experiences being from Canada. It was such an eye opener.

The issue of race is often played out differently in the north of turtle island – you know the nice, reserved, polite and quiet manner – the legacy of the brit culture. Don’t be expressive, don’t be loud, don’t engage in conflict. Alas this type of more subtle racism is often the worst since it is denied. White privilege is denied. Going there as they say, exploring one’s racism, is very uncomfortable. Well for fuck sakes how do you think it feels on a daily basis to fear the racism directed towards you especially when those perpetrating the racism are so oblivious to it. Get over it and get uncomfortable.

An analogy comes to mind. So many folks deny that they could commit horrible acts if placed into certain situations, e.g. kill someone who is about to kill a loved one. As with racism, white folks deny that they engage in it – why they couldn’t possibly be engaging in behaviours that are so disrespectful and demeaning – that are so mean. Well they do and again and again. Accept the fact that maybe you aren’t such a nice person after all, but you can become a better person if you uncover your white privilege, and give up your unearned privilege.

“Privilege is saving confederacy statues because they’re ‘historic’ but bulldozing through ancient sacred sites and artifacts for pipelines” unknown source. This is so true. This equally applies to Canada. Case in point, the statue of Cornwallis in Halifax. I have had the privilege of learning about and partaking in sacred ceremonies pertaining to burial sites of the Original Peoples (OP). Often burial sites were along the shores of the ocean or rivers. There aren’t any markers but oral histories provide the facts as well as archaeological excavations. The latter have had to take place, that is if/when the associated OP could pay for this, when property ‘owners’ were wanting to construct say a dock or some other shoreline development. The hypocrisy for me was so profound. Most folks would be up in arms if anyone or group of people were to disturb Christian cemeteries. But there was never an outcry for the burial sites of the OP. So only if bone fragments were found would the development not be allowed to proceed.

I could go on and on about this topic. I will finish with something that is important to me as someone who according to the dominant colonial state owns property. When I bought my farm I already knew that I wanted to somehow bequeath it back to the Original Peoples, and failing that, then I wanted to live on the land as caretakers, making sure it would be passed down to others who would also be caretakers. In my teaching, where I incorporate some component of race/racism, I attempt to get my students to consider the legacy of their families – from where did the legacy begin if their ancestors were part of the settler peoples. Did they get ‘free’ land? Most would have. And yes some family members may have squandered the family legacy but the fact would remain they were given something that did not belong to them and this helped their family prosper. This is not to say that I was trying to get my students and their families to give up the land to which they had title. OP aren’t seeking this. If my students were more recent immigrants, say since WWI or II, and would be considered white then how has being white helped them to be where they are today. Peggy McIntosh’s white privilege exercise is a fantastic tool to explore this, https://www.csusm.edu/sjs/documents/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf. What is being sought is a recognition, an acknowledgement of how being white has helped them in visible and invisible ways. Then from this place of white privilege become part of the fight against racism. White people need to get their white brothers and sisters to stop the racism. It will never end if we expect the people of colour to end it.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/26/racism/feed/1Colca Canyon – Valle de Colcahttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/06/colca-canyon-valle-de-colca/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/06/colca-canyon-valle-de-colca/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 17:45:08 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=909After a very long what seemed at times endless for Mr.C5 winding road trip, we arrived in Chivay the 1st community, a tourist trap so I had planned for us NOT to stay there. Mr.C5 got to have his smoke, … Continue reading →

]]>After a very long what seemed at times endless for Mr.C5 winding road trip, we arrived in Chivay the 1st community, a tourist trap so I had planned for us NOT to stay there. Mr.C5 got to have his smoke, I got to pee and got us some super cheap sandwiches to eat for the last leg of the bus trip. Mr.C5 was not happy!! I tried to console him – only another hour or what ended up being 1.5 hours since this part of the trip was lots of stopping to drop off and pick up locals as this was the means of transport for the majority in between all the small communities that dotted the canyon on both sides. Again too much sign of human activity – where were the tiny villages quiet?

Cabanaconde, the final destination for the bus and where we were going to spend the night, ended up having a population of 3000 – I don’t consider that small really. Folks here really do have way too many babies – what do you expect when some families still celebrate when girls turn 15 – fiesta de quinceañera. It was nice to see very few cars, narrow cobbled (rocks) stoned streets. A question – why do mainly women dress in traditional dress but overall the men don’t except for maybe hat. On the topic of hats almost everyone is wearing a hat with the women’s hats being very colourful.

More lovely terraces – the wonders of agriculture:

Cabanaconde in the distance & walkway amongst the terraces:

Some nasty prickly cactus:

We arrived with some daylight left so we easily enough made our way to the hostal/hotel which again ended up being a nice place. And once again BEER was in order. I remembered reading about another hostel that had a great bar & pizza so off we went again just a short walk. Here we spent a great evening, chatting with a Danish woman and the bar staff & owner. We didn’t stay out late but I guess the town was kinda asleep when we went to our hostel and discovered we couldn’t get in. I had had this thought when we left to go get food & BEER of maybe I should ask how do we get back into the place if it is late – need to listen to that little voice!! We went back to the other place, got a pen & paper to go note down the telephone #s written on the door, back to other place where they tried to call the folks but no one picked up. So we went back to hostel with bar staff guy this time knocking really loudly on the doors, not caring about walking up neighbours this time around. Well lo and behold one of the so-called doors just happened to be open – we hadn’t even tried to push it since it didn’t look like a door. Phew!! In we go and cold we are – no heating in these places – but the alcohol helped us crash pretty quick.

I had asked the hostel family if they knew a farming family so that we could visit their farm and ask questions about how they farmed and help out a bit if need be. Well the family who owned the place were such a family. After breakfast I gather the son walked us to his family’s farm, maybe about 1 km, right on the edge of the canyon with million dollar views. Besides carrying supplies and some other family members coming along, he had a bag with 4 turkey chicks who chirped away. They had of course dogs, cats, chickens, the turkey chicks and quite a few pigs!! As well as a garden where they were growing alfafa for animal feed.

After a little tour, he took us for a short climb down to see a very old burial site located in the side of the canyon. I actually didn’t realize where he was taking us with my not so great Spanish. But I do know he offered for us to see this. There were lots of bones – I understood it had been used for generations. There was this giant bolder that had slide down who knows when and had lodged itself crushing lots of bones and destroying somewhat part of the walls of the burial chamber. Out so respect we did not take any photos.

Farm visit, camouflaged side with eucalyptus treest, alfalfa growing for feed for animals:

Interior of their home:

Farm home & buildings:

Cooking area:

Piggies and more piggies:

Look at their view:

A pic of us:

Along the road just outside of town is the local museum dedicated to the Momia Juanita (Mummy Juanita) – had to read up about this on wikipedia. Our ‘guide’ told us that the community has been asking for the return of the mummy but so far the folks who have it are keeping it in Arequipa (if I understood correctly it is in private hands):

After this he offered us a bottle of wine which I initially thought was a gift (the wine was actually not from the region as they do not grow grapes here), but then we were invited into their home where we sat and shared the wine amongst all the family members. I hope I did not make a cultural faux pas. As they took sips from the one glass we shared, they would also drizzle some wine on the ground as an offering, a thanks to pachamama (mother earth) for providing life.

All in all it was a lovely experience. I thought there was huge potential for some agri-tourism with Cuso perhaps being able to have a project there to help such an industry. There is plenty of eco-tourism – trekking – but this seem to benefit tour companies based in Arequipa mainly, not surprisingly little benefits going to the local communities with the exception of Chivay which tends to the jumping off point for the excursions. When I later suggested this to my Cuso ‘supervisor’ I found out it was inappropriate for me to suggest to potential project partners such opportunities. I was like okay, I thought Cuso would always be looking for project partners and communities that could have some help in developing sustainable businesses – my bad – I guess – I think not!. Cuso does have a weird way of operating sometimes.

After our farming excursion we headed back to town and hung out in the main plaza for a bit drinking some coca tea. Couldn’t get anything but instant coffee which was what we were drinking with our breakfasts and I was like nope so coca tea it was. We waited for the next bus to take us to Yanque, pronounced yanquay, which would begin our journey back to Arequipa.

Well that bus ride was an adventure – way more people than seats but so what right? The aisle was full of folks that just had to stand. We were comfortably set up as we could be in one set of front seats with folks me strategically thinking we were going to be getting off early than the bulk of other passengers who were tourists, when an elderly woman got on. So I gave up my seat knowing this was supposed to only be 1 – 1.5 hr bus ride. (Folks are really good here giving up seats to elderly and women with children so I of course followed the customs).

I am always amazed at how what we would consider strict rules for anything in this case bus transport (not public but the private way of doing things), are non-existent here (except you are legally allowed to complain if a bus is going over 90 k.m. which imho isn’t really that fast). Finally we were dropped off but not in the plaza as I had expected. By this time I was not a happy camper reaching my limit of too crazy full bus. We easily enough found our family run hostel, got settled and then went on the hunt for food this time not beer. Found the one open restaurant and actually had some real coffee and some good food.

Now it was time for our gem experience. I knew this place had its own private hot thermal bath so I asked and after our bit to eat we were driven by the son a few kms down the road. There we met up with what turned out to be the father of the place, and we proceeded to hike down they say about 2 km down to the river where the hot baths were located.

I am so glad it was light when we did this since we got to see the surroundings. As we soaked in the wonderful waters – my 1st ‘bath’ experience since being in Peru (for folks who know me I am a bath person not a shower person but I get it I am living in a desert so how dare I seek out baths) – we then watched the skies darken and the brilliance of the milky way with its billions of stars shining through. It was a lovely way to bring the day to an end.

Ross against a typical – actually very nice – rock wall which was surrounding a hidden complex – not your typical farm home at all but an upscale place:

Some garden flowers and passion fruit:

Me snoozing in the comfy bed with super heavy blankets just like from my childhood:

Next day after breakie we had some time to kill before catching the bus back to Arequipa so we walked along a road that lead out of town towards the other side of the canyon to where there was a bridge that one could use to cross the river. As this was quite high altitude we were not going to do anything strenuous so instead we watched the views from up above. We encountered some family trying to get their two cows to cross the bridge but you know how stubborn cows can be. The first guy was just not going to move. While we hemmed and hawed about whether we should go down and help, other family members arrived but still no success. So I said come on we should do the neighbourly thing and help out. But of course just before we reached the bottom, the cow decides to cross and easily enough the 2nd cow followed with some coaxing. Oh well back up we went – slowly.

Colca river canyon & terraces:

Granaries in the canyon walls:

Now this is what I thought the whole canyon would look like:

Gorgeous wheat growing:

Families and livestock on their way to a new grazing area:

Drying corn stalks and corn (maiz):

Time for next bus ride. I had asked if there was another way to get back to Arequipa – perhaps a taxi collective and yippee there were plenty of minivans that did this trip and it was actually cheaper than taking the larger buses and far quicker. Why was this info not available on all the tourist blogs? So we had a very pleasant 3 hour ride back to the big city.

So Colca Canyon. It certainly was stunning I guess but not in the way I had imagined. I have never gone to the Grand Canyon, never really wanted to because of the masses of tourists and all the rip off tourist prices one has to pay to get access. So I thought cool I am going to see a canyon even more spectacular. It turns out that this area has been inhabited probably for 1000s of year, definitely pre-Inca with many ethnic cultures – they would not be called nations as the separate nations in Canada of Original Peoples according to a local I asked about this (On Wikipedia it says “The Quechua-speaking Cabanas, probably descended from the Wari culture, and the Aymara-speaking Collaguas, who moved to the area from the Lake Titicaca region”… and “The Inca probably arrived in the Colca Valley around 1320 AD”. So wherever possible along the sides and tops of this canyon were signs of human activity – the andenes as they are called (or terraces) for agricultural production – corn, alfalfa, some wheat is what we saw during this season, and of course some grazing areas for livestock.

I had expected pristine nature but it was instead feats of human engineering. It was still pretty spectacular – it reminded me of Holland actually because of the use of every possible bit of land for agriculture mainly crops but also grazing of farm animals. However, I was initially actually quite disappointed for the first little but then began to appreciate the beauty that can be found in human impact on the planet. (I remember being distinctly in awe of the lights that were visible while driving during a very dense fog – super dangerous – in Rotterdam’s Europort area). But for me this shit about the longest, the deepest, the highest of whatever is just so ….juvenile or should I say boy childish?? Men and their issues with size!!

We had no interest in really hanging out in Arequipa – after a while all cities are just too alike, but I had booked us into another place a block from the plaza de armas (almost all main plazas are called this), a hostel recommended from a Suco volunteer. Well it was your stereotypical hostel – filled with young folks, noisy, drinking… need I say more. And to boot this was Peru’s national day of celebration – Ferias Patrias. What were we in store for especially since our private room was on the roof where was located an outdoor terrace with bar and music. Thankfully I had ear plugs. So we decided to imbibe in some drinking since the beer was cheap and well we had nothing else better to do.

Our ‘vacation’ trip was coming to an end. Up early the next day as the sun was rising, taxi to bus station and then long ride back to Tacna. Spent a very quiet night in Tacna before flying out the next day back to Lima with of course a flight delay for good measure. Always glad to be home. Have needed this past week to recover.

Some Tacna graffitti:

I am glad we did this excursion as I am now feeling I have seen many different landscapes in Peru. Yes there are more Andean mountains to see but these don’t make me feel awe since the west of Canada has its own amazing mountain ranges. I do just love the desert landscapes which I now puts me in a minority group. Don’t get me wrong I would not want to live in one unless it was super close to a very large river that would not dry out thanks to climate change which in all likelihood will happen to the majority of rivers in the South American countries that are fed by the Andes.

Now begins the planning of the vacation to the Amazon rainforest and river in 2nd 1/2 of September. Now this is something I am so looking forward to, having only spent some quality time in a tropical rainforest in Australia where it was magical.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/06/colca-canyon-valle-de-colca/feed/0Chile here we came and wenthttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/05/chile-came-went/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/05/chile-came-went/#respondSat, 05 Aug 2017 17:58:59 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=870 It feels like I haven’t written for a while which is probably true. Both of us have been feeling like the shine of the big city has worn off. Yes we did discover another bar/nightclub to go to where … Continue reading →

It feels like I haven’t written for a while which is probably true. Both of us have been feeling like the shine of the big city has worn off. Yes we did discover another bar/nightclub to go to where we can dance to mostly our fav music from the 80s & 90s so that’s great since we know that our time is limited in i) being able to find such music in anything smaller than Lima for a city, and ii) we aren’t getting any younger so staying out late takes its toll on us. As Mr.C5 says “I … wanna rock and roll all night and party every 3rd or 4th day…(you know the Kiss tune?).

So back at it once again. We spent last week traveling by air, bus and train as we journeyed to Chile in order to renew our visas. Things of course didn’t pan out as planned but heck that is the story of everyone’s life right?

The Peruvian government had introduced new legislation pertaining to the various types of visas folks get when coming into this country. We volunteers with Cuso are on a visitor’s visa which can be had for up to 180 days. Prior to the new law, one could step out of the country and then step back in and get another 180 days. With the changes, a visitor would only be able to stay a total of 180 days within one year. So as any good volunteer would do I passed along an article to Cuso staff, written on one of the expat websites where they asked a lawyer’s opinion about the new law and what it might mean for various types of expats in Peru. Cuso response was yes this was a possibility but all will be fine, probably because they had never had a problem before?!?! It turns out Suco volunteers, the equivalent Quebec organization, have some other arrangement with the Peruvian government and so they don’t have to send their volunteers out and then back in to country. More on this later…

So we flew to Tacna, Peru, not much of a city to boast about, sort of industrial looking (the plaza was quite disappointing compared to all the other plazas we have encountered – not even a decent coffee shop!!), surrounded by huge sand dunes on two sides acting like a funnel. I guess there was a river carrying water from the distant Andean mountains that came to the surface thus the city sprang up in the middle of nowhere in a desert – not close to the coast, on the edge of more desert mountains.

We then proceeded to catch a cab to the train station since I had read that this was a pleasant way to cross the border. Alas one couldn’t buy tickets on the day one wished to travel so we then walked to the bus station which fortunately wasn’t far. Here I worked on figuring out how to get a taxi collectivo to cross the border. Really – taking a taxi to cross the border you might ask? Well it is how they do things there. And it all works rather smoothly.

Alas we had to wait in quite the lineup for our turn. It just happened to be a Sunday mid/late afternoon and there were lots of folks who were doing the cross border shopping like folks used to do Canada – U.S.. Peru’s prices for everything are much cheaper so Chileans come over for their purchases on the weekend. Tacna is the centre to which they go – the closest biggest city I guess. They come from Arica which is almost literally across the border, less than a 10 minute drive. Tacna is about 30 minute drive to the border. Note to others – not a good idea to cross borders here on the weekend.

So eventually we got a car, the two of us sitting in the front with a family – husband, wife and child – in the back. The driver takes our passports briefly which I knew would happen otherwise why would I give my passport to a complete stranger you might ask. We also filled out the required documentation that the driver provided to us. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes we were on our way.

We noticed lots of orchards along the way – it turns out olive tree orchards. Not sure why this is the chosen produce but I guess with the river and thus extensive irrigation this is the place for olives and olive oil. Didn’t manage to buy any but we did see someone with a huge bucket full of olives to take back to Chile.

So we arrive at the border, exit the car, wait in line to 1st exit Peru (which is where I realized I had forgotten these little slips of paper you get when you enter Peru and which you are to give back when exiting – uh oh – fortunately I guess they understood that after 6 months someone might forget these bits of paper), then back in taxi to wait in line for Chilean immigration, then walk a bit, wait in line some more to have our bags checked. Throughout we were all to stay together – it was like the car was crossing along with its passengers despite the fact we had no connection to the driver or the other family.

And just as we were putting our bags on the conveyor belt the machine stopped working – I was wondering why the line wasn’t moving for a while there. So directed to another building and another machine, wait in line some more, then checked through and finally back in taxi to Arica. It all went smoothly overall just time consuming.

It was dark by the time we arrived but I recognized the place since I had googled earth it – it was a lot smaller than Tacna which I was looking forward to. I had also booked up a place for 2 nights that was a 2 minute walk to the beach – a real beach with sand and not rocks found in and around Lima (why people think Lima’s beaches/coastline is nice I will never understand). I knew it would be a short walk from bus station to the hotel but as we walked we missed the name of one street, kept on walking through a somewhat industrial area with only intermittent street lighting, only to realize that that one street was probably the street we were looking for.

You have to appreciate by this time we were tired – we had left our apartment in Lima at 10 a.m. thankfully being driven to the airport by Cuso’s ‘private’ chauffeur, Sr. Santiago, a lovely fellow who picks up/drops off all the volunteers and has for many years. Now it was close to 8 p.m.. So back we walk and lo and behold yes it was the street we needed. Finally we get there, check in. Next stop – BEER!!

I will leave it to Mr.C5 to tell the remainder story of this evening. Check out https://darkgreenmountainsurvivalresearchcentre.wordpress.com/2017/08/05/c5-says-weird-shit-happens-to-me-survival-advice-from-south-america-part-9/. Of course I would write this differently, and there were some embellishments but overall he captured the evening’s events nicely. Yes crazy shit happens to him and us. I got to imbibe a bit which was great along with good cheap beer and good music, vibe, bar staff. I had a great laugh with the sharing folks who taught me some slang: la raja which means “awesome/something really entertaining or fun. Something is “la raja” or a person can be “la raja” when they’re just all around awesome. But the word “raja” can also mean your behind/(ass) and can be mistaken for vulgarity”, “La pasemos la raja! We had a blast!, No me tocas la raja Don’t touch my butt, OR ¡La raja! Great!” I also asked from where do these fine substances come from – well I guess Chile is a consumer while Peru, Columbia and Bolivia are the producers.

The next day we simply spent relaxing, walking the beach for some time and then the downtown. I had planned this since I knew our travel to Chile would be long and tiring. I did like the place overall. Much more cosmopolitan and relaxed compared to Peruvian small cities, e.g. far less security guards around and more ‘white’ folks.

The moro or big sanstone rock on the edge of the community:

Some pelicans waiting for their fish meal, and sea urchin harvest:

A cool food shack close to the beach – Mr.C5’s dream home:

These shacks either made of bamboo ‘sheets’ or bricks or stones are dotted around the place, usually close to reads and we understand they are there more to indicate property ownership rather than someone actually lives there:

Next day off to Arequipa but back to Tacna first and of course border crossing. This time we did take the train, all of one car, actually cheaper than the taxi collectivo. This was much more pleasant and everything took a lot less time.

And then the hiccup which could have turned into a nightmare. We were almost the last folks in line, luckily there were 2 immigration officials so we didn’t keep anyone waiting. The woman was very friendly fortunately. But she was essentially saying she couldn’t let us in, showing us on her computer screen the text of the new law. I was like yes I understand this explaining we were volunteers, at which time I provided the letter we had from Cuso explaining who we were. She essentially said that if she let us in for 180 days she would be the one to get into trouble. I asked if she could speak with a supervisor – the place was so small that no one in a position of authority was there except the two officials and other security/support staff. Of all things she actually had to use her own personal phone to make the calls. This took some time and in the end I have no idea who she talked to even if she did talk to someone but she gave us 90 days. Phew!! So on we went to the bus station. I thought I better let Cuso know asap about this but this could wait until I got some wifi access along the journey.

Red sand desert mountains along road to Arequipa, the 2nd has powerlines if you zoom in:

The bus trip to Arequipa was supposed to take 5.5 hours. Well this trip really made me learn that the advertised trip lengths are bullshit – only best case scenario and how often does that happen?? It took about 8 hours. For some reason when we finally got to Arequipa, by which time it was dark, the driver decides to practically go off road – meandering through tiny streets up a hill where he then had to keep backing up in order to either turn around or just get around tight corners, scraping the bottom of the bus along the way. I asked a fellow passenger whether this was what usually happened and he said no. He was totally confused as well. By this time folks are getting frustrated since with their stunning customer service we have no friggin’ idea what is happening (and of course we never get an explanation nor any type of apology).

Finally we get to the bus station, hope in a cab to our booked hotel. I was afraid that our room would have been given away. Fortunately the place was ready and really nice and with a hot strong shower to boot!! We by this time needed BEER!! Found it easily enough even though the night desk clerk warned that everything was closing by this time. Not true – not sure what city he was living in??

Me, tired, having me morning smoke on a swing of all places in the garden of the hotel:

Women carrying their belongings in colourful typical of the area blankets:

Alas the next day was also a bus journey day. I knew these 2 days would be long but in the end not as long as they turned out to be. Why can’t bus companies say the trip duration is the worst case scenario therefore if you arrive early you are pleasantly surprised and will say great things about the bus company. Note to self: Why do I expect common sense??

This was the journey from Arequipa to Colca Canyon – Valle de Colca, the 2nd deepest canyon with U.S. Grand Canyon being #3, #1 being Cotahuasi also in Peru – or more precisely to the small community of Cabanaconde. This bus ride was to be max 5.5 hours as well but it took closer to 7 for god knows why. On both day’s bus trips we actually had to go through various checkpoints, one being about agriculture, others I think being about crossing provincial borders – who knew. Mr.C5 was not a happy camper and not just because he needed his nicotine. Fortunately we got some Nicorette gum in Arica, something we had not been able to find in Lima for some reason, so this helped, but as a tall guy he doesn’t do well in small spaces.

Note: almost all the pics below are taking from within the bus so lots didn’t work out but some did thankfully.

Pics of desert landscapes – volcano & sand devil:

Rock walls I believe for coralling the vicuñas and/or alpacas

More rock structures – heck there are so many rocks so this is the perfect building material:

Vicuñas:

Mining activity – salt mining?

Alpacas, these and vicuñas tend to hand out near the salt marshes:

Cool rock formations, 1st has these green moss covered rocks

Majestic vistas:

Some views from the bus as we come into Chivay:

Okay will stop here – to be continued – I need to work on the photos which is tedious as it takes time needing to resize them otherwise they take up too much space.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/05/chile-came-went/feed/0Views from our apartmenthttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/04/views-from-our-apartment/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/04/views-from-our-apartment/#respondFri, 04 Aug 2017 13:14:59 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=865I thought I had posted this blog post but just realized as I was looking for a particular post that this was published as a separate page on my website, a mistake when I was trying to figure out how … Continue reading →

]]>I thought I had posted this blog post but just realized as I was looking for a particular post that this was published as a separate page on my website, a mistake when I was trying to figure out how to work blog posts. So here are some belated photos of our place. Enjoy.

Avenida del Aire looking left or northwest, the street we live on

Avenida del aire looking right or northeast

The three above photos are connected (sorry wasn’t working with the editing). The neighbourhood in the distance and up the hill, or what is called here a cero, is La Victoria, one of the most poor (and dangerous) districts, but one where we find the markets of Gamarra – textiles, and Parada – wholesale fruit & veg, both absolutely huge. My first visit I was completely and I might add unpleasantly overwhelmed, not by feeling unsafe – I felt very safe although of course it helps to be with Ross but I also find Peruvians very friendly – rather by the smells or should I say stench, sights – so many people and stalls, and sounds – no cars allowed but three wheeled bicycles aplenty. And of course there were lots of straight dogs & cats.

Some of the 1000+ types of potatoes, the Andes being the origin of this humble veg.

Garlic and more garlic. When Ross 1st visited this place his eyes burned from the many folks peeling kilos and kilos of the garlic cloves.

Drying ginger.

Back to our apartment…

View of the national library (see it is a stack of books building), national theatre, and national museum. Of course the tall building is a bank as are most of the tall buildings in the city, with a few hotels.

A few rooftops we can look down upon but as good neighbours we try not to do this. Everyone does hang their laundry to dry on them.

The front door to our 6th top floor apartment, although the stairs go to a 7th level where the water tank is found.

Beautiful sunset or as much of a beautiful one you can get in the city, direction faces west over the Pacific ocean which we can’t see but we do know where it is and it is just a bus ride away.

Cuso wants to get us proper beds. We had asked for two beds thinking that double beds were the norm which would have been too small for us, both of us being poor sleepers, but alas the boxspring for one bed and the bed frame for the other would have put the 2 single beds on different levels and we didn’t have the right linen for this. So we are back to student or bachelor days sleeping with mattresses on the floor – no big deal.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/08/04/views-from-our-apartment/feed/0Maybe this will wake folks up?http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/16/maybe-will-wake-folks/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/16/maybe-will-wake-folks/#respondSun, 16 Jul 2017 15:47:12 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=853I am not exactly sure but I think it was ever since I watched the documentary, End of Suburbia, where I was first introduced to the concept of peak oil, that I knew the age of cheap oil was coming … Continue reading →

]]>I am not exactly sure but I think it was ever since I watched the documentary, End of Suburbia, where I was first introduced to the concept of peak oil, that I knew the age of cheap oil was coming to an end. It was also around this time that someone – a student I believe – turned me onto the doc Zeitgeist (I know there are issues with the doc but it was still super interesting). This was followed with watching, What a Way to Go: Life at the End of the Empire. These really made me aware of what was coming down the pipe in our post-industrial world even though I was sensing this for some time. I did feel a sense of urgency and took it upon myself to try to get my students to take some action to change their lives, prepare for what was coming, maybe actually get involved in organizations that sounding the alarm bells and were trying to tackle the issues. Failing this, I just hoped to get them to think about these issues.

I know I was able to impact the lives of many of them. As an example, one student told me they picked up a 2nd hand sewing machine as they wanted to learn how to make clothes, something I learned in home econonics class in high school which I gather isn’t part of the curricula anymore (not necessarily a bad thing if one considers the gender inequality this perpetuated). Others took the first steps in learning how to grow some of their own food. All good and useful stuff irregardless of the global situation.

When I entered into my career and existential crisis, part of me was wondering what had I accomplished after decades of activism since the situation appeared to just be getting worse. Now we now it isn’t appearing to get worse – it is much worse than most could have imagined.

Recently an article circulating online has generated some good discussion of what scenarios may eventuate. I cannot recommend this highly enough:

I have sometimes wondered over these past few years whether some folks I considered good friends were no longer so as I saw less and less of them. I was removing myself from activist circles as I needed to recover and address my personal questions. I was realizing that efforts to change government (at any level) were futile. The system was just so corrupt – perhaps not the type of corruption that I have learned about here in Peru – but corruption nonetheless. My so-called friends in these activist circles were still continuing to organize around and in between elections. I know people want to believe that government should and can protect us and often it has. But as capitalism crashes, the power holders keep hanging on, strangling the common folk even more.

I would tell folks I am a realist, not a pessimist but I didn’t see folks believing me. I was assuming they just didn’t want to hear about my supposed doom and gloom perspective. Fine. I wasn’t going to live in the la la land of hope but I also wasn’t living in the land of despair. My partner Mr. C5 and others have talked about the stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, so pertinent in these times of uncertainty and chaos. Check out

I was introduced to the field of eco-psychology many decades ago when it was a new and on the fringes of psychology. In a nutshell, Ecopsychology studies the relationship between human beings and the natural world through ecological and psychological principles – see wikipedia. What I drew from it was that folks could experience emotional pain due to the widespread destruction of the natural environment around us, e.g. clear cutting of old growth forests, extinction of species, destruction of habitat due to mining, etc…, akin to grief one would experience with the death of a loved one, in this case the suffering of mother nature. I so strongly believe that there is a disconnect between so many of us and mother nature. There is a dis-ease so paltable in our cities, neighbourhoods and families, partially as a result of this even though it is an unspoken grief. Put simply, there is an escalation of pain and despair at play, felt in response to widespread environmental destruction, a perfectly natural reaction imho.

Maybe you don’t want to believe in worst case scenarios but Mr. Murphy just loves to fuck with you. That’s D E N I A L!! Just like ‘it won’t/can’t happen to me” – give me a break!

It has been good to see more folks beginning to face reality but it is too little too late. The changes are just too set in motion. Yes it is incredicly depressing. But is also just so cool to learn new skills around the essentials of creating food, clothes and shelter. You just can’t get bogged down in trying to change the ‘system’. The system is changing, to what we just don’t know but all we can do is to try to create microcosms of the kind of world we want to live in. Just don’t assume it will be easy. Time to check the cult of individualism at the door. Learn some conflict resolution. Do your personal development dealing with your ‘issues’ (we all have them – even those who say I had a wonderful family life growing up – yeah right!). Those who will survive these times will have a skillset that is currently severely lacking, but the main one is being able to live in community with others, people who will drive you nuts but who will also support you no matter what (well not if you abuse your partner – there will need to be codes of conduct – there have been cultures that have ways of dealing with those bad apples).

As we consider what to do after our year in Lima, we do know we are so fortunate to have a significant chunk of land in a place of the world that will withstand climate change better than most. I still dream of living in a small home on the beach in the Caribbean or Central America but that would be a bad move.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/16/maybe-will-wake-folks/feed/0Cusco part 5 – the final post – Santuario Animales de Ccochahuasihttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/05/cusco-part-5-final-post-santuario-animales-de-ccochahuasi/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/05/cusco-part-5-final-post-santuario-animales-de-ccochahuasi/#respondWed, 05 Jul 2017 16:20:11 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=846Since we had some days to fill with Ross not being able to do much on account of lack of oxygen, I searched for stuff to do within or near to Cusco that wouldn’t involve climbing by human or other … Continue reading →

]]>Since we had some days to fill with Ross not being able to do much on account of lack of oxygen, I searched for stuff to do within or near to Cusco that wouldn’t involve climbing by human or other power. I stumbled across the Santuario Animales de Ccochahuasi, a private family run wild animal rescue specializing in rehabilitating condors. I am no longer a fan of zoos but thought a rescue sanctuary well okay then. In one review it had mentioned that for North Americans this might be akin to a roadside zoo so I didn’t want to have high expectations.

Well we were very pleasantly surprised. We took a local public bus to get there which was great again for the views of the surrounding areas – mountains, family farms, ruins. I finally saw quinoa growing in all its glorious colours but bummer since we couldn’t get any pics of that. I guess we will just have to grow some of this ourselves. In a previous Cusco post – the Ollanta one see the pics of folks drying the grain alongside the road.

We were lead on a tour with a guide whose English was sufficient. We saw two speckled or aka Andean sun bears;

alpacas, baby and adult llamas of 2 varieties, short and long hair;

indigenous eagles; the puma or mountain lion and the Peruvian wild cat – kinda like a large maincoon without the mane.

All the animals had been either rescued from the wild, injured or with parents having been killed, or removed from abusive owners. Most would never be able to be released into the wild. There was also the hairless Peruvian dog – I really can’t say I find these perros attractive, actually pretty ugly especially when they have some tuffs of fur on their heads and tails but that’s me.

The condors were impressive – such wide wingspans. There were juveniles and adults, the latter having the more striking black and white colours. We were able to watch them fly around us, being led into a separate enclosure for them. Several of these were going to be rehabilitated and released eventually.

They also had a place for rescued monkeys of different sorts who were so absolutely cute, playful but I also think sadly bored (I could spend hours watching these critters);

some different scarlett macaws and parrots in another area,

even one toucan that needed a prosthetic beak to be made to repair the damage.

The facilities were more than adequate for the most part so the animals seemed in good hands. It was the best they could do with no government support, only donations and an entrance fee that was super cheap! I am just glad that such places exist, restoring my faith in humanity. My colleague was going to put them in touch with a similar rescue group she knows in her native country of Costa Rica. It helps knowing you are not doing this sort of work on your own. I am very glad to have visited this place and supported it by picking up myself some great moccasin/slippers since my ones back home were falling apart. I highly recommend this place, conveniently located just outside of Cusco and accessible with public transit.

]]>http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/05/cusco-part-5-final-post-santuario-animales-de-ccochahuasi/feed/0The death of Chris Cornellhttp://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/05/death-chris-cornell/
http://professorasparagus.ca/2017/07/05/death-chris-cornell/#respondWed, 05 Jul 2017 15:48:34 +0000http://professorasparagus.ca/?p=824While in Cusco I found out about the death of Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Sound Garden and Audioslave. It is rare but I was stunned and saddened. I have always been a fan of grunge. I was living … Continue reading →

]]>While in Cusco I found out about the death of Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Sound Garden and Audioslave. It is rare but I was stunned and saddened. I have always been a fan of grunge. I was living for a short while in Seattle just at the tail end of the grunge scene. How I wish I had been there a little sooner. Someone posted a blog reflection entry about his death, thanks Katy, where this person explored why he was surprisingly quite upset about Cornell’s death.

The entry lead to a discussion about mental health and depression amongst the Gen x generation. I have never considered myself part of the Gen X generation but neither part of the Baby Boomer generation since I was born right at the end of the latter and beginning of the former. So as is so typical of my life I didn’t feel I belonged to either group. I remember reading Douglas Coupland’s book Gen X who coined the term, and I couldn’t relate or even really understand what he was talking about. But I could relate to this blogger’s discussion about depression and often concomitant mental health issues, e.g. anxiety, anger, especially when it comes to the support or lack thereof one has. However, from a different stand point.

Quoting here: “It’s possible that, along with grunge, Generation X’s other great gift to society is depression. I mean, of course it was here long before the Baby Boomers started re-producing, but we talk about it more than those who came before us. We talk about it as a demon or a monster. It’s a dark shadow that shows itself at any point in time without warning. It surrounds us, isolates us, and quiets us. Depression likes to blame things. We feel like shit because of mistakes we have made in life or because of the state of the world or because we aren’t perfect.

You might think grunge is about anger, but that’s not completely true. Yes, it can sound that way, but it’s really about depression and cynicism. Those two go hand-in-hand, along with their nasty little sister, anxiety. When the three of them get going, they just eat hope as quickly as it can be summoned. That leaves despair and despair is exhausting, not just for those who experience it, but for the people around it as well. So we keep it to ourselves because we don’t want to be a burden. And then it gets to be too much.

I have never been one to not be open about how I am feeling. I say if you ask me how I am doing, I won’t take this for simply the Canadian standing greeting – I am going to tell you how I am feeling otherwise don’t ask. I know, how impolite a Canadian can I be. This is just my literal self so too bad. So when I was going through my work hell several years ago now, which was a mid-life career crisis initially and then essentially an existential crisis, I told people what I was going through when I saw them. I soon realized who were my true friends and who were simply acquaintances.

They say that folks who are experiencing mental health issues have difficulty seeking help. I don’t or at least not in the conventional way. I have no shame in seeking medical help. I have been very fortunate to have had access to mental and other extended health services usually through employee assistance plans available through my jobs. As for friend support, I guess I thought it was pretty clear that I was going through a bad time. I rather think the problem is perhaps that others can’t deal with your pain since they are stuck in their own, and/or people don’t want to be in the company of people who are not in a positive frame of mind, and/or people are fearful of the level of deep emotion they might feel if they open’s up to another’s pain – a sort of mirror to themselves. I could of course have simply misread the signals of friendship, something I have dealt with a few times in my life. I know this is connected to the relationships of family. Because of my wanderlust path in life (not all those who wander are lost!), I have always felt friends were my family, my support, as opposed to my blood family who were too far away and people I had difficulty relating to. Heck we can choose our friends but not our family right?